A little bit disappointed that all of the California schools aren't all together, but apparently this was a stipulation of Colorado joining, as they want more exposure in Southern Cal. Can't wait until the Stanford band makes fun of Utah... expect polygamy jokes by the bunches and deeply offending the LDS.

So barring more adds from the Big Ten, what do you see the divisions shaping up as?

I have stated before that I think UM and OSU can be split up, but I've changed my mind. There isn't a great way to split the divisions geography wise, as that way the East ends up with 3 of the 4 power schools. So put PSU in with Nebraska, then split Iowa/Wisc up between the two divisions, and after that divide them so as best to preserve as many rivalries as possible. While history isn't a certainty, having a final regular season week with OSU-Michigan and Nebraska-PSU to determine the title game participants seems like something too good to pass up.

Also FWIW there is definitely some residual bad blood between PSU and Nebraska from the 94 season (and I have heard the Huskers feel they got robbed in 82, although that seems nuts to me) that could be further cultivated.

I know more about pizza than you. Much more in fact. - Cerebral_DownTime

The discrepancy in strength between the two divisions is exaggerated IMO. If anything the West was deeper than the East last season. And I want the rivalries preserved. I don't want to see Ohio State-Michigan go the way of Nebraska-Oklahoma, and I DEFINITELY don't want to see a Buckeyes-Wolverines rematch in the title game.

Then just make the other ones up to give each team one. Then again if JoePa quits PSU could take a quick turn for the worse, maybe not though. Probably a little too light in the South division, just throwing it out there.

I just dont like the idea of OSU, UM, and PSU being in the same division with these current teams. Too much power in that division. Like that article aoxo posted if you dont balance the conferences you are going to make the title game garbage (ala the Big X(II)).

This splits up the 4 traditional powers evenly, 2 in each division. Each division also has 2 teams known to It keeps the majority of the rivalries in-division, and sets up a couple new potential rivalries with Nebraska's addition: Nebraska/Penn St., and Nebraska/Iowa. Each team would play all teams in its division every year (5 games) plus 3 out-of-division games on a rotating basis, essentially letting a team play every other team in the conference at least every other year.

Arguments for small changes could be heard...perhaps switching Wisconsin and Illinois. But I think splitting up the traditional powers is the way to go, and let the less traditional powers fall in from there. If there are protected games, I think each team should have one, rather than have some teams have one and others not.

How do the all time #'s support Wisc/Iowa/Nebraska balancing out OSU/UM/PSU? Three .700+ teams vs 1. Wisconsin isn't even at .600.

Those last 10 years for PSU are severely skewed by the first 5 years, the worst stretch in the team's modern history. They're at .759 for the past 5 years, which is pretty close to Joe's career (.753).

Also, those CLEARLY aren't the all time records. Joe has won nearly 100 more games than it has PSU listed as even playing.

I know more about pizza than you. Much more in fact. - Cerebral_DownTime

aoxo1 wrote:No doubt those are the power rankings. But are Iowa and Wisconsin really on that list, or merely the best of the rest?

Interesting, but I think you are right. I re-did the last 25 years with them in order. Seems pretty clear how they divide out in tiers. I am on your side now, even with recent success it is tough to put Wisco or Iowa in that group when looking at them longer than the last 5-10 years. win % wins loss tie total2 Nebraska 0.77229 242 71 1 314 6 Ohio State 0.75243 230 74 5 3097 Michigan 0.73127 222 80 5 30710 Penn State 0.71639 218 86 1 305

This is going to be a tough call. I think my North/South divisions are too weak, but I dont see how you let Nebraska come in and only have to knock off Iowa and Wisco each year while OSU, PSU and UM beat each other up. Maybe you just say screw the geographics. Any reason they couldn't have different divisions in football and then divide up the other sports more geographically? Locations matter more for other sports than football IMO

Every team in the SEC has a set inter-division game. I think the Big Ten would do that, too, to help preserve additional rivalries and/or create the most big games possible (ie: OSU/Mich would be paired up with PSU/Nebraska).

But assuming Michigan regains its form, do you really want them to play two weeks in a row every couple years? Obviously that could happen occasionally, but best to use that last week for intra-division rivalries IMO.

I know more about pizza than you. Much more in fact. - Cerebral_DownTime

However, we have the possibility of the Ohio State - Michigan double dip at the end of the season. So, swap Iowa and Northwestern (average PCT of 0.546) for Michigan and Michigan State (Average PCT of 0.531). We're left with:

The only team that’s really screwed in this is Minnesota, losing Paul Bunyan’s Axe for the Little Brown Jug, as well as splitting Purdue and Indiana. A 5-2-1 conference schedule can accommodate this, and if we go to 9 conference games, a 5-2-2 schedule will play every team in a home-and-home arrangement in 4 years.

Texas A&M's Rivals site reporting that they're leaving the Big 12 for the SEC so either something's going down, or they got hacked. Armageddon is nigh if this is the case, hello superconferences, the death of the Big 12, and Texas going independent and airing only on the Longhorn Network.

I've been hearing this rumor for the past two weeks, but it is strange that I haven't heard about a potential 14th team. I guess the SEC can use the year to actively court Oklahoma or an ACC team (Fla St, Ga Tech, Va Tech), but usually with these conference shifts they like to have their ducks in a row before letting something like this leak.

I'm on the fence with this one, personally. It does give LSU the opportunity renew and strengthen an old blood-rivalry (which we are sorely lacking). But then again, LSU has had some success recruiting the Houston area solely by using the SEC as a sales tool. That would go away to an extent.

"Dammit you piss me off. I f#ckin hate you and I hope you f#cking get killed by a rabid polar bear you douche bag."

It could be one domino. I would think that the SEC would probably be looking at going to 16, not 14... so bringing in A&M, Oklahoma, FSU, and Miami would certainly do that and balance the sides of the conference as they currently are in East/West format.